Inside The Lockers

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It's almost game time and you're going inside the lockers with JC and D. Hawk on

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91.5 KU and V Broadcasted live for the campus of UNLV And good morning, Las Vegas good morning USA

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And you are inside the lockers with JC and D. Hawk and we come to you live every Sunday 7 to 8 a.m. right here on Jazz and More station KUNV 91.5 and we broadcast live from the campus of the gorgeous UNLV here in the desert. If you have any thoughts on the show, topics you want to discuss, topics you want to chime in on, you can reach us at 702-895-5868. That's 702-895-5868 and when you're traveling make sure you download the KUNV app for your iPhone or Android. And back locked in after technical difficulties last week is our man D. Hawk. Hawk, are you coming through out there in Radioland?

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What's good, JC? I'm back.

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What's good is the connection is good.

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That's what's good.

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But let's get right to it.

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It is a busy day in sports today. It's been a busy day in sports this week. And, you know, let's start right here in the hometown. So, you know, we've been talking about the WNBA predictions for, you know, the better part of the season. Both of us kind of felt the Aces had the depth and the team to do it. You know, they got themselves the by. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. But, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. And, you know, we're going to have to see what happens. had the depth and the team to do it. They got themselves the bye along with the Connecticut team, Connecticut Sun. And lo and behold, both series is tied 1-1 with the Aces playing game three in Phoenix today coming off a blowout lost by 25 points at home. Although they have obviously the great Brittany Griner it was a one of the legends of the game Deanna Tarassi that kind of just really turned back the hands of time dropped 36 on him and of course the Connecticut Sun who have had a great season and are you know heavily favored to knock off Chicago They did get back in the win column after Chicago surprised them behind the future Hall of Famer Kansas Parker So both series of 1-1 Phoenix will have home court advantage Now if they win the next two games, that's it with the best of five What about going on the road Hawk when you're a heavy favorite? Any mindset change or you know being that it's not an elimination game Just try and you know play your game do what you've done and you know put put the blowout loss behind you.

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You definitely have to have a short memory in the playoffs. You can't get too high on the win and too low on the loss. I feel like this game is going to be the... I feel like who wins this game wins the series.

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I think you're right. The other thing too, I think with the short memory, you're right. When you lose a game by a big amount or even win a game by a big amount, it only counts for one tick in the score column. That's it. They don't say, wow, you really lost. You all got two losses on that one.

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You don't get two W's or two losses depending on if you win by 40 or lose by 40.

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I'm with you. Just shake it off. Speaking of sports and playoffs, what a day today for Major League Baseball, I mean baseball kind of has you know been in and out with the fans And then of course the pandemic last year, but you know they came back this year with a vengeance setting records for you know No hitters, and you know Unexpected teams like the Giants you know San Francisco Giants weren't even expected to be a 500 team They set a franchise record for wins with a chance to clinch the division today But let's talk about that wild card in the American League. Right now you have the Yankees and the Red Sox, you know I'm always mentioning those teams in the same breath, tied at 91 and 70. And then you have the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, who are a game behind at 90 and 71. All four teams play different teams today. So theoretically speaking, for the first time in history if the yankees in red sox lose and the mariners and blue jays win you can have a uh... four-way tie for for the one playoff spot which is unprecedented of course never have happened before now there's been ties before the red sox yankees uh... you know, those are our older listeners. I know we have a lot of young listeners, but What about When you you know know if you win you're in if you lose you're out How do teams avoid you know the dreaded? Scoreboard watching and just focus on the task at hand Did you did you ever have a situation Hawk where you know when to get in? I know that with the the big three there's been some of that but with the big three all the games are on the same day so there's really no scoreboard watching or is there? Well it was kind of

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with the big three there's no scoreboard watching until you know afterwards. In this mindset in this case you have to just take care take care of yourself and let whatever happens happens you can't really play all those scenarios in your head because at the end of the day if you don't win it doesn't really matter. So at least take care of business first. Get the W and then we see how the chips fall after the fact.

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That's sick. I know it's hard sometimes when teams do that. As a matter of fact, there's been different scenarios where the club themselves have actually turned off the scoreboard, shut the TVs. There's been a lot of that as a matter of fact. I remember that in giant Stadium where the The old giant Stadium now it's MetLife Stadium The Giants had a win on the last day and had to have a couple of scenarios happen when they whenever they do those you know wild scenarios and football how's here's how you get in and the They turned off the scoreboard, but what was happening was here's the funny part, so many fans were listening to the game right on the radio, so there'd be nothing going on on the field, maybe even a break in the action, and then there'd just be an eruption, and everyone's like, wait, what's just happened? Nothing's going on in the field. Then you realize somebody scored somewhere else, which helped the Giants' chances or something like that. As a matter of fact, I know a little bit of a sacrilege, talking about the New York Giants and playoffs as they're once again 0-3 and the playoffs look about as far away as Jupiter right now. My goodness, I tell you, as a fan of any team, when you're rooting for a team and there's only a shortened season or in football you're only 17 weeks and you get off to that bad start and you just know right from the jump, you're not going to be a playoff team. When you look forward to rooting for that team, when you're really a fanatic, it's very difficult to hang in. The Giants are 0-3, they have 14 games left and I'm already miserable. It's just like, oh my God.

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It's tough. For the fans and for the players.

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The players, right. Well, you know, the thing is that there are those teams that you can't give up, and case in point, the St. Louis Cardinals were pretty much left for dead. Everyone had already penciled in the Dodgers and the Padres to take the wild card spot. The Padres all of a sudden went on that historic one-two out of 17, and the flip side, St. Louis won 17 in a row. Again, bringing up some of the teams I've rooted for and some of the stories from the past, the Miracle Mets in 1969, the reason why they were called the Miracle Mets was because with only a month left in the season, they were 15 games out and then went on this historic 27-2 run and overtook the Cubs and wound up winning the World Series. So for the players, you know your point you can't you can't Mail the season and you got to basically like look Let's just get that first one and then if we went out and you got to be thinking that way because teams have done it It's not easy, but teams have done it for sure, you know

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Then at the end of the day, even if you're not doing it for yourself you owe yourself you owe the game Just having that integrity to finish the season out and give it the best because you always play

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Spoiler well such a great point. That's a great word integrity in sports first of all if you're a competitor And I've been on some bad teams Even traveling teams you know a you back in the day is like man Do I really want to show up and lose by 30, but if you're a competitor? You know you you just compete and you love if you love it And you're not playing for the paycheck, you're playing for the love of the game. And then of course where the paycheck is involved, obviously in today's day and age. Yeah, well not only that, I mean, you're playing for somebody else. If you're on a bad team and you want to make sure you at least remain in the league, you got to do your part. Yeah, you got to play for Odisha. Right, because if you're on a bad team, some people got to go and you don't want it to be you you know so it was It's always important to put your best foot forward a great point On that end, but I'll tell you my adopted team As I've been living here in Vegas now a number of years And I've mentioned many times on the Wednesday show that I was on with galaxy Glenn and with you I've adopted all the teams And I root for them sincerely and honestly not that I turn my back on the teams I grew up with, but certainly love the Raiders, love the Vegas Colts, the Aces. And speaking of the Raiders, Florio undefeated. The Raiders look like world-leaders. One of the things that everyone was talking about was that they could score if they could find any kind of defense. And lo and behold, that defense is opportunistic, they're flying around, they're making plays happen. The offense, a lot of times you bill something, like an offense or a defense or something is going to be great. Everyone basically said the 49ers defense was going to be great this year. I haven't seen where they've been great. They have not been great. I haven't been at all. Just because you get that advanced billing, you've got to live up to it. But I will say that the Raiders had the advanced billing around the league that you know now car really knows a Gruden system And of course they have you know the great running back and all the speed at the receivers of course Waller's Probably the best tight end in the league right now, and they have not disappointed They're just going up and down the field that will on anybody now You factor that the defense has been playing and they look great, and I'm saying you know tomorrow night You know I'm prime another prime-time game against the Chargers who are coming off a very impressive win, going into Kansas City and knocking them off. And Kansas City is 1-2. I mean, you talk about expectations, I don't think anybody would have expected that. But I say it all the time, Hawk, we talk about it, the greatest reality show, and you and I are both movie buffs and TV buffs, we're always recounting the lines from the older shows, but the greatest reality show on television is a live sporting event because you don't know what's going to happen.

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I know. Unscripted.

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Yeah.

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Unscripted.

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And every now and again things go way off script. So speaking of hometown teams, quietly, I know I'm talking about it because there's so many other incredible things going on, but hockey has ramped back up. It's not official yet. The first official game will be in about a week, but but they have had preseason games and you know the Vegas Golden Knights who Have you know really just set a precedent and on an uncharted precedent to be an expansion team and right from the jump year in year out be discussed in the You know title You know conversation and then you know, Marc-Andre Flory, one of the kind of fan favorites and heroes when he first came here in the expansion draft, you know, won't be with the Knights. So basically, it's a new era here because, you know, the jerseys, his jerseys were always in the stands. When you were at Temple, and of course one of the all-time greats at Temple, did you go back just even to watch GamesHawk right after you graduated, or was it impossible for you because you were signed to a professional contract and playing overseas? And if you did go back, what was it like when just a year ago you were the man, and now you're walking around and you're so beloved and then you leave, whether it's through trade or free agency or even retirement or in your case, graduating and moving on to your pro career. What's that like to go back home? Do you miss it? What's the feeling there?

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You miss it for sure.

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And if you're lucky enough to leave on good standings and have a decent career, you want to come back and see you know you want to get that love back you miss it the fans the students cheering for you so yeah I will I will go back to temple and catch games and show my support and the fans and the students will still you know remember me and it's a good feeling it's a good feeling for sure because that's those are the best years of your life even playing professional sports whatever you do everybody tells you enjoy those years in college because it happens fast and the experience that you experienced in college you'll never experience again so it's kinda, when you go back it's kinda like wow I remember this, remember this, you walk around campus like well I have those memories of dang, you know what I'm saying?

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I do.

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But you also feel like, dang, I'm the old man. I'm already gone. And then you were the man on campus. Now you see the next man on campus walking around. So yeah, the clock turns. But it's a good feeling to go back and give back to your team where you put all that blood, sweat, and tears into.

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Yeah. And you were one of the greats. And your records are still up there. People have quite a career to jump ahead of you in the scoring column. Some of the great things you did there. Let's give Temple football some love. They were playing Memphis and I said, Temple can't match up with Memphis. Then Memphis was ahead 17-0 and I said, I should have bet on this game. All of a sudden, they run through the final score and they say, wait a second, who won?

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Temple.

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Temple. But you know, Hawk, you mentioned earlier in this program, you can't give up. You just have to keep playing. Down 17-0 to a team they were predicted to lose to, it's very easy as a player to turn it off. And again, I don't know what happened. I didn't see the ins and outs of the games. There was some incredible matchups yesterday. I didn't happen to see that one But I think a lot of times when a team does go up You know that whole step on the throat mentality when you basically feel like oh We're supposed to win this and you just turn off and the other team, you know They didn't read the script like we didn't get that script. They're like, okay, you know You jumped out to this early lead, but we're gonna come back and to come all the way back and win those games Chose a lot of character there For a program that is not traditionally known for football, although they have had some great players and of course have had a couple of great seasons through the years, football wise. Do you catch many Temple games or do you just kind of check them out in the stands after the fact?

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You're talking about as far as football?

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Yeah, football.

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It's been some years.

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We used to get together and have a tailgate party and the alumni would come back and we'd go catch maybe the homecoming game. But it's been a few years since I've been up there for that just because of availability to get there at that time. I'm thinking about going this season for sure for the homecoming game.

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Well, I'll tell you, I was speaking with you because not necessarily the Philly area but where you live the Maryland area you know they just hosted a big game on Friday night Maryland played host to Iowa and you know battle the unbeatens and of course you know the younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa is the quarterback and having a great season and a lot of people were picking Maryland to pull off that upset and again the spread at the time of kickoff was only a three-point game so you know obviously given Maryland all the chances in the world from a you know prediction standpoint but oh my goodness you know it was 7-3 at the end of the first quarter you know it was very similar to us with Marquette you know at the TBT where we were ahead in the first quarter and then got smacked around that's pretty that's what happened to Maryland but you know Tiger below just got thrown into the wrong jersey. Hard to win a game when you start turning the ball over because not only does it just put your team in a bad position, but as a young player on national TV, when you make a series of mistakes, I don't care who you are, it's so important mentally, and we're going to be talking about mental health later, but to put it out of your system, but when you have multiple mess-ups, you're just human. We want to turn it off, but you can't turn it off. You've played on a lot of national championship games. Was there ever a game, Hawk, where the first half you're so geeked up for the game, you can't wait, and you know people are going to be watching you? This is why you went to go play big-time college sports. Didn't have the half that you wanted and was able to push it out or does it does a creep into your mind and affect the second. I know what we're saying should happen. I'm asking what does happen because certainly Tagovailoa was rattled. It was obviously rattled and Iowa wound up blowing out Maryland. I mean they won by 30 points. It wasn't even close from the second quarter on.

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It could happen. It could go either way. Honestly, that's why it's a good thing that you have that half time to settle down. I know sometimes when you get on the opposite side of it, you start off on fire and everything is working on the same cylinder, then you almost wish that it wasn't no half time so you could just play all the way through. You just start that run. But the first is to tell the two halves, when you come out and you know you're not living up to your own personal expectations and your team is down, you go to that half time and you kind of like regroup. And one thing that used to help me is, you know, you try to, it's hard to, but you got to be able to block out, you know, the fanfare. Just get to the simple things. The game is the game you go back to your practices or you kind of remind yourself I've been here before you know I didn't put all this work in for a reason. Right. And if it works out then mentally you go overcome that that slump and hopefully you don't have to wait to the next game to bounce back you can do it in the second half.

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Yeah go back to what you know fundamentals in all sports whatever sport it is you know if you just go back to what you've been doing the whole time, your body's not going to forget how to do it. Sometimes you're just not getting the breaks. Sometimes there's a lid on it. And other times, every shot you throw up, even the unorthodox ones, go in and it all kind of evens out. Let's let the fans know, for those just tuning in, maybe haven't been following us these past weeks, or if you're driving in your car and you're flipping around stations and wanting to hear jazz and more on Sundays Hawk and I do a sports takeover at sports and more right here on 91.5 K UNV and I'm your man JC. D Hawk is Riding shotgun and we you know bring you the sports beat every Sunday from 7 to 8 a.m And we broadcast live on the campus UNLV. We'd love to hear from you, you know, cell phone or, you know, reaching out to us at 702-895-5868, comment on anything we're talking about, if you have something on your mind or a team or a sports item you want to bring up. And for those of you who haven't been following the show, right in the middle at 730, we get a view from a hawk's nest and we've had some really, really great topics and Hawk's got another great one today and be sure to listen up on that one. We're going to be talking about mental health. And you know, Hawk, I love this topic that you're doing because it was, they announced it during the Maryland game on Friday that this weekend was the Big Ten Mental Health Initiative and I know that every conference hasn't necessarily adopted an actual weekend like the Big Ten has, but you know right after that later on in the day I saw a commercial calling, you know, Remove the Stigma, and this was from the Colts. It was a national television commercial, and I saw you know Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy, Snoop Dogg was in it, and I'm really excited to hear your thoughts on that, but we spoke a little bit of it last week with Cappy I know that you were listening last week we just we couldn't hear you speaking but you know have more and more people been speaking about mental health the aspect what do you think is more important that the body's

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right

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or the mind is right going into a game? Well

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just because it's a game of physicality, athleticism mostly, when you talk about sports, the body I feel like is important and probably more important, but at the same time the body doesn't go without the mind. So I feel like it should be like equal. You have to for sure be physically fit or that's why you get in shape to be able to do, pull out the rigorous, deal with the difficulties and the physicality of the game. But mentally you have to be there too because your body is only going to follow the mind.

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Well I'm going to make a definitive statement and I understand everything you're saying. I'm saying both are important, there's no doubt about that, but I'm saying the body because I'm telling you right now I could have all the determination and the will and the positive mindset in my mind right now and brother I can't run from here to the corner without collapsing. My mind, my mind, well the first thing I do is I throw the donut out my hand because I can run fast without carrying the donut. Of course if I'm running to the nearest In-N-Out Burger I might go a little faster than normal but that's, these are stories for another day folks. Folks look you let me let me not digress This is a sports show Not no not my my diet habits, but but I'm with you, bro. You need both You certainly need both to perform at a high level The mental aspect is every bit as important I mean you look at shooters that you know get so messed up in the head. They can't you know they're shooting air balls I mean you know something that they've done their whole life And all of a sudden can't hit the side of a ball, again, can't even hit the rim just because so mentally twisted. And again, going back to Simone Biles, someone who's done 8 million jumps and twists better than anyone or as good as anyone has ever done it with gold medal after gold medal and felt that she could do bodily harm to herself because mentally she felt she couldn't perform something she'd done. So, you know, the mind is a very powerful component of athletic performance, no doubt about it. But obviously, if you physically can't get out there, and speaking of not getting out there, we'll make our predictions later, but one of the more fun matchups in the NFL this weekend we spoke about, obviously, the hometown Raiders playing a Monday Night Football tomorrow, One of the bigger match-ups is Tom Brady returning home to New England as Tampa Bay is going to play the Patriots. I got to say, I was very surprised when they asked Belichick, who normally deflects all media questions and gives the one-word answer, very famous, been parodied a lot in different comedians. actually gave a full voiced answer and he said publicly that he had said many times on record and he's not going to change it now that if he had a game that he wanted a coach. The guy to coach is Tom Brady. He was lucky to have him and the best to ever do it. I got to say, if that was a veteran quarterback that's quarterbacking the Patriots, that might be a slap in the face I think you can get away with it because it's Mac Jones and Maybe even if it is somebody great, you just have to defer because of all of Brady's accolades, but Did you see it Hawke and are you surprised Belichick who's normally very close to the vest with his comments said something? So over-the-top or is it mind games? Killing him with kindness and then behind the scenes, you know, he wants four sacks three picks and a an upset because Tampa Bay is a seven-point favorite over New England Poke the bear and no say anything negative will get Tom any

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Any extra motivation comes to the game? So I think he played it the right way even if it is a mind game but I think he actually it was genuine because I mean even like you said even if it is a unless there's an Aaron Rodgers or for instance you have Peyton Manning or Drew Brees back there right everybody understands that you know Tom is the ghost so they couldn't even you know take it a certain way because they probably will feel the same way about Tom and his career but um yeah I mean I wasn't surprised by it because we know just You build you you win championships together. You put you've been in the trenches together. You build that camaraderie and that And that relationship with that rapport. I feel like Belichick really adores time Yeah, I agree with you Hawk

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I mean at the end of the day this man won six world championships with him a quarterback and he can't even get into the playoffs since he left. I know that they're trying to make it seem like Belichick ran Brady out of there on a rail but that's ridiculous. First of all, it's not the truth. And second of all, at the end of the day, everything that is going to be thrown at Bill Belichick as a coach, all the accolades, he's the greatest of all time, and I don't think he's the greatest of all time. If you've watched enough documentaries on Vince Lombardi, and the reason why I do give it to Vince Lombardi is basically because his men loved him. I mean, Vince Lombardi won all those championships and his men adored him, and Belichick's won a ton of championships, and a lot of guys, not everybody, but a lot of guys can't stand them. But overall, there's no way that Bill Belichick isn't appreciative of what they accomplished together and he's a great football coach, it doesn't mean he's an idiot. He absolutely knows that Tom Brady has won incredible games and not only that, one could argue, what about the Super Bowls he lost? You know, a couple of miracle plays on offense by the Giants. I'm a Giants fan. Some misplays by the defense. But with all that said, it's going to be fun to watch today. There's a lot of great stuff to watch today. We're going to take a short break for, you know, do some housekeeping station-wise. And when we come back, we look forward to another incredible view from the Hawks. Now see you in a minute. And we're back to Inside the Lockers and for those of you joining us, JC and D-Hawk, we come at you live every Sunday 7am to 8am Pacific, that's 10am to 11am on the East Coast and we're very fortunate to have people tuning in all over the country listening to us. We're very excited about how well the show is doing. 91.5 you can find us KUNV. The call in number is 702-895-5868. For those of you who have been following us, you know right after our break we have a little editorial comment, a view from the Hawk Nest. The topics have been ranging from anywhere to who is the greatest in sports to what should a player do after they? Finish college they want to go you know right to the pros is going to a secondary league like a European League You know the way to go is it giving up your dream if you do that just some great topics And we're excited to hear another one hawk. What do you got for us this week on view from the Hawk's Nest.

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This time I'm going to take you into the world of mental health and how it relates to, you know, sports. Both professional, amateur. It's a thing now and for sure the awareness of it has been raised. I'm happy for that because it's a big game coming up and you know you go through your treatments you go through you try to do everything you can to physically be ready and the player comes and he's trying to figure out should he play or not play and play means should I tough through it you know it's sports and a lot of people say a lot of people say, tough it out, tough it out, you're tough. This is the physical side of it. And naturally he could play and have a great game and be praised because he played injured and still won. Or he could make that decision like, I don't want to hurt myself even more or hurt my team, hurt my teammates. So let's take it to the mental side of it, imagine a player struggling with any issue, depression, whatever the case may be. And you know, it used to be like, sadly, you come through and you say, you couldn't come to your coach or your teammates and be like, hey, I just don't have it today, you know, I'm off, I'm dealing with something, X, Y, and Z. They kind of look at you and be like, ah, it's soft. You know, play through it. Are you tough or are you afraid of this moment? And with that being said, people would kind of defer from saying it. They could be feeling bad and then not be there. But I'd rather not say it to somebody because I'm being looked at a certain way. But on the flip side of that, that could actually hurt their team. And you not being there 100% for them, it kind of like it... What I'm trying to say is, should a player be able to... Or should a player be able to, just like if they have an injury, a physical injury, sprain, ankle, anything, be able to come to that team, come to that doctor and be like, hey I'm dealing with something today, I'm struggling with something, I'm not myself, I'd rather not play and hurt my team. Or should they be able to just play through it and tough it out. And I feel like a player should definitely be able to voice that without any impunity, without being looked at as being solved to anything because it is a real thing. It is, for lack of a better word, an injury. If you're not a hundred percent there, you're at a handicap and you shouldn't be able, you shouldn't feel like you can't speak to somebody or bring to somebody because you'll be viewed at in a negative light because at the end of the day you can hurt yourself and hurt your teammates more than help them because I feel like I said we spoke about earlier the physical part is important but I feel like the mental part is just as important because your body follows the mind

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and

0:33:32
I'm glad that the awareness of it has been it's been more to the been brought to the light now. And people are trying to look at it, they're coming around. Some people still feel a way about it, like with the Simone Bounds situation. A lot of people were still looking at her like, this is what you do, you're superhuman. They couldn't deal with the fact that this Olympian, this one of the most celebrated Olympians, couldn't do something because it wasn't a physical injury, but I feel like we're moving in the right direction as far as the awareness of it. And I feel like a player should be able to come to their team and speak about something that they're going through mentally and be looked at the same way as like a physical injury. What did you think, J.C.?

0:34:25
Yeah, first of all, another great topic, and incredible that you're always picking these topics that just give food for thought. What I think is this, I think it is exactly equal to it, but here is the stigma, and you brought it up. So, let's take this Patriots game. You know Rob Gronkowski wants to go back to Boston. Now, he might want to go back to Boston for different reasons than Brady, where Brady wants to go back and be like, �Hey, you should�ve not let me leave. You should�ve surrounded me with the love and respect I deserve.� All those kinds of things that people are making for the story. Gronk is beloved. Everybody just loves Gronk. He would go back there and they�d give him a standing ovation, pats on the back, a good old boy. He's got fractured ribs, so not only is he not playing, he's actually not making a trip I heard, which even just to be celebrated and soak all that in, right? Now, cracked ribs is something that everyone could point to as very tangible, right? But if you're not right in the mind, let's say your best friend passed away or the way or a loved one or something that you've been dealing with. You found out, you know, nobody knew that your girlfriend was pregnant and she lost the baby or something like that. You know, there could be a million things where your head is somewhere else, you know, and if you're a receiver and you don't like have your head on a swivel, you're not just locked in, you know, it could be a million things or even a case of the drops, right? Like you're just a little bit off. You could hurt the team. You could hurt yourself. But if you go to a coach or a GM and say something emotional is injuring me, let's use that word, is injuring me today, and I can't go because nobody could see it, boom, there's the stigma. Boom, there's the weakness. You know, suck it up. We all got to deal with something. All those kinds of things. I think what's happening in sports today, all the support is basically trying to say that, and here's the phrase that's going around and I kind of like it, the phrase is, it's okay to not be okay. What they're trying to let people know is like, this has been going on since the beginning of time, but now if you want to say something, we're not going to come at you and hit you with punk, weak, soft, because those are the things, right? When you look at an athlete, they're chiseled, they're in shape, they're looked at as God, superhuman, all the different things that they are given respect for on the field of play. The moment you allow or the perception that you're not playing because of something abstract, it's not a broken bone. Again, Terrell Owens famously played with a broken bone and balled out even though the Eagles lost. There are all those moments of courage. Then even on the mental side of it, when Brett Favre had one of his best performances ever as a pro after his father had passed away or the night that is the day his father died at he played the night Later that night his father would want to play so everyone wants to compare but everyone is different people do have different emotions

0:37:48
so Because it doesn't mean just like a guy can play through a sprained ankle playthrough, you know physical injury It doesn't mean that you can't play through it. You know, your best friend passing or your father just passing because that sometimes might motivate you to dig deeper. But yeah, you know what I'm saying, you shouldn't be able to, you shouldn't feel like you can't speak on it or can't not play. It still should be your decision to play whether you're injured or not or have a, you know, dealing with something mentally or not. But I feel like it shouldn't be looked at as a negative.

0:38:26
No, a negative. And that's what removed the stigma. There's a movement by the Indianapolis Colts. They've actually done commercials with Snoop Dogg and Peyton Manning and Tony Dogey. And the reason why they're inserting these kind of men into the commercial is these men are all machismo, right? Macho. I mean, look at Peyton Manning, NFL quarterback, Snoop Dogg, thug life, respected the whole thing. And everyone's talking about it's okay to not be okay. I'll just say this, and I know it's not sports, but if you watch a movie called Eddie and the Cruisers, he's very, very close to his saxophone player. The saxophone player dies and the star of the movie, Michael Parry, comes out to the microphone and he says, this morning I buried my best friend and now they want me to come out and entertain you. I don't think I'm going to be able to do that." And he walks off stage. And in other words, what it is is that he exposed in that moment, the scene in the movie, that his mental health was not going to allow him to do what he needs to do at a level that you want to see him do it. You paid good money to see him perform. And I think that's what we're trying to say about the athletes, that they have to be given that same courtesy of an injury with the mental that they would be given with the physical. What's your name and where are you calling from and what can we answer for you today?

0:39:50
Sure, hi my name is Carlos Mackle. I'm actually calling from Delaware by way of Maryland. And I'm loving the topic about mental health today and especially from you guys. I love the show JC and Huck, you guys are doing your thing. But I just wanted to chime in on this mental health subject. So when you think about, you know, our leaders, we're talking about, you know, society, our country, our community, right? These athletes are the individuals who our youth are looking up to, and they're looking at how they cope with their situations, right? So when you think of that, you think about the trauma that they're experiencing, the anxiety, the depression, and how are they dealing with that. I think what we need is a lot of leaders to start showing by example and shout out to the ones that's doing it.

0:40:37
Yeah, I mean, when you say leaders, you mean even like in political situation, not only sports, right? Or are you talking about more the coaches and the GMs of sports?

0:40:46
Oh, for sure. So we're talking about our public figures, J.C. So we're talking about all of our athletes, because it's a sports show, but you want to talk about community as well. We got politicians, actors, entertainment, experiencing depression, anxiety. They've had sexual trauma that they're not addressing. And I think that a lot of the actual acts that our leaders are doing out, that may not be as favorable to their actual image is actually being factored in by a lot of their mental health issues. I think once they start to deal with those, kids in our community as well as adults who follow in the suits of a lot of these athletes and entertainers will start to get the treatment that they need and we'll have a better community.

0:41:33
I couldn't agree with you more. The funny thing is I think it all ties into the same, that word stigma. I think once you have a position of a platform or authority or leadership or even just a profile, a high profile, high paying job, once you basically announce some kind of what's perceived as I'm broken, even though you're not broken, you're human. But the perception is I'm broken. Some people already have put in their mind that they're going to tumble off of that perch. And because it has not been talked about the way it's being talked about now, that you can say, I'm not okay, doesn't mean I'm permanently not okay. It means I may not be okay at this moment. It means I might be going through something right now, but I can come through it. It's good for me to talk about it so that I can come through it sooner and better. You mentioned the actors, and I think that's a really great point because those are individuals that are absolutely up at that level, but you look at some of the people that we've lost. You look at an actor like Robin Williams who famously was diagnosed with an illness that was only going to debilitate him more and more and couldn't view himself as someone who was going to be less and took his own life. There are other people who struggle in and out of drug issues, but they struggle because of a place of lack of mental health. Chris Farley was someone who was beloved and never realized how beloved he was. He was always struggling with his kind of mental place in this world and although he didn't die on purpose, he was obviously not doing the right things because he was having a hard time coping. I think that's the thing too, when you can't release to the public, I need help because you are someone who all of a sudden, will the public still adore me as an actor, as a movie person, as an athlete? Then to your point, as a leader, if I'm a mayor or if I'm, people obviously question Trump's mental health and right now people are questioning not necessarily Biden's mental health, but his mental faculties. But even that, even to hear that kind of pressure and that kind of scrutiny, if he did need a moment, let's say his issues were therapy based and not senility based, would he even be allowed to say, hey, I need a minute? No, because of the pressure.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:22
Right.

0:44:23
Right.

0:44:23
Right.

0:44:23
Right. Right. Right. Right.

0:44:23
Right.

0:44:23
And that goes back to Hawkeye's point, right, about should athletes be able to say, you know, without being judged, without the stigma, right, without, you know, a whole hundred questions, just say, hey, I need a mental health day, I can't go to practice, I can't go to the game, I don't need to answer all of these questions, I'll be back to work. The same way they would if they had suffered a medical condition, whether they broke a leg or sprained an ankle.

0:44:53
We need to get that clarified. And it is a medical condition. And here's the thing I'll say that I think is going to be the next evolution. Once upon a time, when a woman was pregnant, she did not have that kind of freedom to take time after the baby was born or before there was a baby born, obviously the terminology is maternity leave. And it had to become something that was actually instituted as a right, as a privilege, as a law. That if a woman wanted to have some time off or needed some time off for quote-unquote maternity leave, she had the right to come back exactly in her position, would not lose her job, all those things had to be put into law. I think that has to grow to a point where a person can say, whether it's a politician, a position of leadership, an educator, a dean of a university, certainly an athlete, where they have to be able, under the rights of a federal law, that they can say, I have a right to say I need two weeks of mental health and you can't fire me, you can't demote me because my rights are protected. We don't have that yet. Right now we're just talking in a conversational way publicly that do not scrutinize, do not stigmatize, do not defer a person's rights to not be okay by demoting them in some way. Right now it's conversation and that's important because the conversation has to get started. That's how change happens. I think we do need that at the legal level so that somebody can have not only the emotional support but you want to have that stature, statute and stature like I can say this and not get something taken away because that's the biggest fear, right? The biggest fear is that it's taken away from me because I showed vulnerability. Meanwhile, for you men out there, and I'm not talking about mental health, but the women like the vulnerability. I've always seemed to get a lot more action, Hawk, when I was vulnerable rather than being the Sicilian from Brooklyn. Just keeping it real out there for you in America. It is early in the morning. Carl, thanks for the call. We appreciate it. Great commentary. We appreciate the thoughts and certainly with you that it is something that needs to be dealt with and respected rather than dealt with in a negative way or a debilitating way, taking shots at our leaders. If you are out there and in a position of leadership, do not, I repeat, do not try and go it alone. Don't be afraid to say to someone, I'm in a position of authority, people look up to me, people depend on me to be my best, I might need to talk about it. And those people who have the courage to do that, let's not punish them, let's support them and then when they get the help that they need or the moment that they need, they can feel comfortable that they will not have lost their position. That's very, very important for all of us to support those people because that's the only way someone's going to come forward when they feel like their whole life isn't going to be shattered because they tell somebody for a moment, I need a minute. Everybody at one time or another has needed a minute.

0:48:20
Thanks, guys, so much. I appreciate you. Keep doing your thing and much love.

0:48:24
Take care.

0:48:25
Thank you. Well, Hawk, again, your topics just continue to inspire, continue to generate conversation, and I love it. It's definitely one of the more enjoyable features that we have every time, and so glad that we're able to navigate some of these little technical glitches, which have not really popped up early. They have popped up a little bit later, but that's live radio and we're pushing through it. But it is time, Hawk, for our Pick segment. We're going to run it right down. We've got some minutes left. We're going to start with your hometown club, but they are on the road, and that's the Washington football team. I'm still waiting for a name, by the way, out there. Washington football team, whatever that means Every time I see that WFT You know what? I'm thinking right that it's a little bit of a typo a little bit of a typo You know WTF, you know, but but Atlanta got their first win over the Giants. So again, it's the Giants So you're gonna get your win over the Giants They have not played up to the defense Taylor Heinecke has played. Well got them the one win. What do you like in this game here, Hawk?

0:49:42
I think Washington goes down there and gets the win.

0:49:46
I'm with you. I'll lay the one and a half. Not sold on Atlanta. Beating the Giants late is no great feat. Matt Ryan is still a talent, but I think there's not much more around him like the Washington football team to notch that win. Now we have a whole other mess, a whole week of shows could be dedicated to what the heck is going on with the Houston Texans, whoever the quarterback is or whoever the quarterback should be or blah blah blah. But at the end of the day, this looks like an incredible spread for an NFL game. 17 and a half Buffalo at home Houston. Who do you like in the game and then who do you like with the spread? We normally don't talk spreads on this show. Who do you like in the spread there, Hawk?

0:50:34
Yeah, I actually think I like Buffalo straight out for sure, but I don't think they cover that 17 and a half. It's kind of because of it, I have to go the other way.

0:50:45
Yeah, so here's my thought on that. I think that that is how everyone's going to think and I think these line makers get paid a lot of money for the fact that they know exactly what they're doing. So in that respect, being a veteran of watching these types of things, that half a point is such a hook, it's such a tease. It's like, oh, 17 but I'm going to cover with the half. Yeah, 38 to 7, you don't cover the 17 and a half so Yeah, because I'm gonna go a Buffalo Plus Buffalo is the patches shout out to all my patch wearing bills out there Be one family so we got this is an interesting matchup But I got my take on this one, but I still have not named a starter in Chicago It could be Dalton it could be fields both are ready to go They're playing it close to the vest trying to kind of I don't know what you accomplish by not saying it. When you walk out on the field, they're going to know who it is. But they're saying it's two different styles, so you've got to prepare for both. Detroit Lions, who have been so close, lost an excruciating one last week on a record field goal kick. They go into Chicago. The Lions-Bears are always a matchup, usually the Thanksgiving matchup. Who do you like in this one, Hawk?

0:51:58
I think Detroit goes in there and gets their first win. Like you said, they were close a couple times and I think I Think they

0:52:08
I think Detroit I'm with you. I this is my there are three-point dog. So I guess you're gonna call it an upset This is my upset special today. I think Detroit wins this game outright Certainly take the points if they're giving them to you, but Detroit is playing hard. They're close Chicago's a dumpster fire. They have not figured it out. I think Nagy's days are numbered. Might be a brilliant mind. Might be a well thought of guy. But you know what? The proof is on the field. And they just don't look like they know what they're doing. I really like Detroit in this spot. I think they think that they can get a win. So as far as having their hearts broken, I think they come out today and I think they see themselves, you know, as capable. Now this is your team. Not your hometown team, but the team that you love. This is a great matchup today, the Cowboys against Carolina in Dallas. Sam Donald has completely started to look like the number two draft pick. He went from the Jets where everyone was basically writing this guy's career off to Carolina where he may be playing in the Pro Bowl. Of course Dak has you know just completely lived up to all the hype and all the expectations looks healthy the Dallas Defense which has been criticized still giving up a lot of big Plays but making a lot of big plays so where they're not maybe not be stout on defense They are doing good defensive things. Who do you like in this game?

0:53:32
I'm always picked the Cowboys, but for real I think just Like you said the defense is making some big plays I think Zeke is going to come off is going to continue to feed off his game last last last game And that is looking good. I think the Cowboys cover Yeah, I think Cowboys are definitely the team in the East. I don't think anyone else is gonna get there

0:53:55
I think they're gonna be a playoff team this year provided. Of course, they stay healthy However, I don't like the four So while I would not be surprised to see Dallas win would not be surprised to see Carolina win outright I do think the game is gonna be nip and tuck back and forth probably one of the better games to watch today But I'll take the four because of that Indianapolis is a team that I think has just been banged up. I think they have a lot of town I think they're very well coached when I watch them play Going on the road trying to get their first win Team that was a playoff team last year You know Carson Wentz has not been bad. He hasn't been good, but he hasn't been bad He's not been what I would say the problem Miami looks like a mess Too is definitely not you know Gonna play for a number of weeks now as you call me reset has taken over. I like when I see him play and yet they don't put points up Miami's defense is very opportunistic. I think obviously the Raiders really showed how good they are by You know against a good defense. Who do you like here Colts grab them as well another entertaining game, Minnesota Who's one and two but has played well Kirk Cousins having probably his best season ever as a pro Cleveland, you know just has the one loss probably shouldn't have lost to Kansas City. They've looked really good Otherwise, this game is basically a pick them Cleveland on the road in Minnesota. Who do you like their Hawk? I I gotta say I think that the one thing you can expect in this game is points a ton of points I guess I lean a little bit toward Cleveland, but you know Minnesota impressed me last week wouldn't be surprised to see them win it, but I'll go ahead and take Cleveland as well Giants New Orleans, let's not even talk about it Saints. Thanks next Tennessee Jets, you know again. I would say next the only thing is Tennessee has a lot of key people out I mean at the end of the day What makes what makes any team a better team is you have to basically have the players? So for that reason, I think the Jets cover Hawk. What do you think? All right last one Hawk we only got a second left Tampa Bay New England who wins it Oh, let's go. I think I think for the homecoming.

0:56:26
Bill Belichick, he gets it.

0:56:28
I think Tampa Bay wins it. I think New England covers. That's going to do it for us. Inside the Lockers every Sunday at 7 a.m. 91.5 AUMV. And we will see you next week. And we will see you next week.

0:56:38
Have a blessed Sunday.